Mayweather on the money as Cotto is defeated; Shadow of Pacman looms large

It went according to the script, sort of.

Floyd “Money” Mayweather defeated Miguel Cotto by unanimous decision with scores of 117-111 (twice) &118-110.  It was a boxing master class from the opening bell.  Mayweather showed his speed, class and technical expertise from the opening seconds of round 1 to the final seconds of the 12th.

At points there were times that it seemed Cotto was getting to Floyd; however on closer inspection it was clear that those times weren’t the making of Cotto himself, but rather the doing of Floyd himself.

Mayweather fought a fight that suited the tough and rugged Cotto; up close and against the ropes.  However just like the previous fight with Victor Ortiz, Mayweather was out to prove a point not only to the crowd but probably to himself.

At this point in his career he knows the paying public are there to see the end of his undefeated record and fighting this sort of fight gives the impression that there is always the chance that he will get caught; therefore keeping his brand profitable.  However watching closely it was plain to see that it was unlikely on this night; such was the speed and defensive greatness of the man.

Any punch that did connect from Cotto to Mayweather was glancing and certainly not going to end the fight.  Any round that could have been scored to Cotto was due to Mayweather taking a rest; before turning on the style once more.

After the fight Floyd was gracious as always saying,

“Miguel Cotto was a tough competitor. He’s tough; he’s a future Hall of Famer.”
“He came to fight, he didn’t come for survival. He’s a tough competitor.”

As always Mayweather was asked about the potential match up with Manny Pacquiao,

“The fans want to see Mayweather v Pacquiao. Bob Arum is stopping the fight. I can’t see who else it is going to be.” Mayweather said to HBO’s Larry Merchant.

Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter; has long been blamed for the delay in making the mega fight as he wants to erect a stadium big enough to stage what is without a doubt the biggest fight in boxing history.

I understand Floyds and the fans frustration with this.

Dallas Texas is home to Cowboy Stadium. Site of 2 previous Pacquiao fights (vs Joshua Clottey & Antonio Margarito) and able to hold in excess of 100,000 people.

Why not stage the fight there?  It’s not as if it’s a hard sell.  100,000 tickets will sell within hours for a fight that has now been talked about for many years.

Split the live gate revenue 50/50.  Split the PPV revenue 50/50 too, which no doubt will be huge as the fight will sell very close to 2 million buys and make it happen.

Both fighters will make an obscene amount of money, as will the promoters.

The fight has to happen for the sake of both fighter’s legacies and boxing itself.

In the Co-Feature for the WBC Light Middleweight Title, “Sugar” Shane Mosley (40) was on the end of a one sided fight against the much younger Saúl Álvarez (21).

The fight was scored 119-109 (twice),118-110.  A big win for the Mexican, who controlled the fight throughout.  

Asked after if he felt he passed the “audition” for a potential Mayweather fight down the line, Alvarez answered “Yes”; however on the evidence of this fight though that may be premature talk & since the interview Alvarez’ promoter Oscar De La Hoya has nixed the fight by stating that his charge is not ready for Floyd “just yet”.

In the end, the real story of this fight was Mosley.  He showed the heart and class of a hall of famer that he will surely be.  Hopefully for his legacy and more importantly his health this will be the last time we see “Sugar” Shane in the prize ring.

After the fight in the post-fight interview Mosley was non-committal to retirement.  I however hope that in the coming days, weeks, months, someone will advise him against any further forays into the ring.  Too many boxers/fighters go on too long and Shane has already done that in his past couple of fights.  Let this be the end of the line and have Shane move into the Golden Boy promotional stable.

All in all this was one of boxing’s better nights.

A storied veteran could hold his head high.  A young champion got to ply his trade against a true great and then the world once again witnessed the sheer once in a lifetime talent that is Floyd “Money” Mayweather.  Let’s just hope we don’t have too long an absence before we see it again.

Alan Pendred